I played in a star-studded Tottenham team and was impressed by three teammates.

Jake Livermore played alongside what some would call football royalty during his time at Tottenham.

The 34-year-old's time at Spurs was interspersed with loan spells, but that didn't stop him rubbing shoulders with some of the greats.

Livermore played alongside figures such as Gareth Bale, Luka modric and Rafael van der Vaartthree players who left a lasting impression on him.

So the question arises: should they have done better?

In the 2011/12 season, they were defeated in Champions League qualification by their rivals. Chelseawere eliminated from the League Cup after being defeated by Stoke City on penalties and were also eliminated from the FA Cup by Chelsea.

Harry Redknapp was manager at the time, and failure to reach the Champions League was part of their downfall; Spurs sacked him in June 2012.

“The Champions League could have been the step we needed,” Livermore said.

“That could have brought in other great players, which would have allowed us to keep players like Modric and Bale in attack.

“But again, it's a question of time. If we'd had the stadium at that time, with a bigger crowd, there would have been a bigger appeal for some of the bigger players. Tottenham could have been the big club.”

Despite Tottenham's shortcomings that season, they had an incredible array of footballing talent…

Luka modric

“Playing alongside Modric is incredible,” he told talkSPORT.

Modric made a slow start at Tottenham, being labelled “too light” for the Premier League by then Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, but the arrival of the manager Harry Redknapp That soon changed.

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It gave Modric a more familiar role as a midfielder, allowing him to showcase the footballing talent that Livermore and fans had grown accustomed to.

Modric won the Ballon d'Or in 2018, the Golden Foot award in 2019 and, in March 2021, became Croatia's most capped player in history.

With six Champions League wins to his name, he is considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time.

Gareth Bale

Welsh icon Gareth Bale also left a lasting impression on Livermore, particularly with his explosive pace.

He said: “You could give the ball to Bale on the halfway line and end up with an assist. You'd think, how did that happen?”

Bale scored 53 Premier League goals for Tottenham in 166 appearances, cementing his place as one of the club's greatest players of all time.

He would go on to become one of the best players of his generation, winning the Champions League five times after a £77m move to Real Madrid.

Rafael van der Vaart

Livermore's last notable teammate was Rafael van der Vaart.

The midfielder narrowly joined Tottenham in the 2010 summer transfer window, much to the delight of Harry Redknapp.

Livermore recalled: “You could shoot a cannon at him and he would shoot it down.”

The Dutchman scored quite a few goals for Spurs, 24 to be exact, as well as providing 16 assists.

However, the majority of Van der Vaart's professional success came outside of Tottenham, where he won multiple trophies with Ajax and Real Madrid, as well as making 109 appearances for the Netherlands national team.